Negril, Westmoreland
On the Seven Mile Beach, amid a resort corridor increasingly shaped by large-scale all-inclusive brands, a Jamaican family has staked $700 million on a different proposition: that there is a market for a smaller, more deliberate, more authentically local hospitality experience. The result is Footeprints Negril, a 32-room luxury boutique hotel that reopened in July 2025 after an extensive renovation of the original Foote Prints on the Sands, a property that had been receiving guests since 1985.
A COVID Inflection Point
The pandemic was the catalyst. When Negril’s hotels closed during the COVID-19 lockdown, the second generation of the Foote family faced a decision about what to do with a property whose original format had reached the end of its natural commercial cycle. They chose to reinvest, and in doing so raised a question that is relevant to every ageing property on Negril’s Seven Mile Beach: can a smaller, independently owned hotel compete in a market increasingly dominated by international chains?
The renovation, undertaken by a local contractor and a young Jamaican architectural firm, Sittol Architects, transformed three existing buildings without replacing them. Rooms were reduced from 38 to 32, deliberately trading volume for quality. The layout of the property was reorganised, with a new reception placed at the front, a pool installed between the buildings and the beach, a spa added, and a skywalk constructed to offer guests an elevated view of the sunset. The result was characterised by the owner as the only luxury boutique hotel on the Seven Mile Beach, a claim that, if accurate, speaks to a gap in Negril’s accommodation offering.
100 Per Cent Jamaican Ownership
What distinguishes Footeprints beyond its scale is its ownership. In a Negril real estate and hospitality market where diaspora buyers, international investors, and foreign hotel chains have been the dominant drivers of recent investment, a property that is described as 100 per cent owned by a family from Westmoreland, with roots in the resort going back four decades, represents something different. The management’s pride in that fact is evident, and it speaks to a question that Negril’s broader development narrative has not always answered well: who owns Negril, and who benefits from its growth?
What the Renovation Signals for the Market
The $700-million investment in a 32-room boutique property on the Seven Mile Beach is a statement about what the market can support at the quality end of the independent hotel segment. Negril has long had a reputation for small, characterful accommodation that offers something the large all-inclusives cannot: a more direct engagement with the resort’s culture and character. If that segment can be commercialised at a level that justifies serious renovation investment, it represents an opportunity not only for the Foote family but for other owners of ageing small properties on Jamaica’s resort beaches who are considering whether to renovate, sell, or let their assets deteriorate further.
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